The aim of this book is to establish a basis for resolving the various issues facing modern society by exploring the field of Computational Social Science, which fuses the social and natural sciences. Today, society is threatened by problems concerning the environment, population growth, hunger and epidemics, all of which could lead to the extinction of humankind. However, attempting to resolve these issues is extremely difficult, because of the complex, intertwined factors involved, and because these issues are not just matters related to nature and the environment but also to society. In this book, we investigate this aporia of the social sciences with the help of big data (which has gained considerable attention in recent years) and techniques such as agent-based simulation. Our aim is to resolve the complex system problems characteristic of the present age. In this regard, the book focuses on specific issues such as the reconstruction of public character in our social-media-saturated modern lifestyle, the current state of social capital, and the resultant social changes.

Beyond hegemonic thoughts, the Post-Western sociology enables a new dialogue between East Asia (China, Japan, Korea) and Europe on common and local knowledge to consider theoretical continuities and discontinuities, to develop transnational methodological spaces, and co-produce creolized concepts. With this new paradigm in social sciences we introduce the multiplication of epistemic autonomies vis-à-vis Western hegemony and new theoretical assemblages between East-Asia and European sociologies. From this ecology of knowledge this groundbreaking contribution is to coproduce a post-Western space in a cross-pollination process where “Western” and “non-Western” knowledge do interact, articulated through cosmovisions, as well as to coproduce transnational fieldwork practices.

Conceptualising the new phenomenon of constitutional crowdsourcing, this incisive book examines democratic legitimacy, participation, and decision-making in constitutions and constitutionalism. It analyses how the wider population can be given a voice in constitution-making and in constitutional interpretation and control, thus promoting the exercise of original and derived constituent power.

This volume represents the proceedings of the 2003 meeting of the International Academy of Practical Theology, which was held in Manchester (UK) on the theme of 'public theology'. Featuring over twenty papers from some of the world's leading practical theologians, 'Pathways to the Public Square' offers a wide variety of perspectives on the relationship between theology and politics, education, law, culture and economics. They include subjects as diverse as the role of religion in the constitution of the European Union, theological themes in popular music, Roman Catholic-Muslim dialogue in the U.S.A., and the spirituality of the public realm. This book will be of interest to theological educators and students, church leaders, policy-makers and all those interested in the relationship between religion and public life.

Today, roughly 2 billion people use the internet, and its applications have flourished in number and importance. This volume will examine the growth and geography of the internet from a political economy perspective. Its central motivation is to illustrate that cyberspace does not exist in some aspatial void, but is deeply rooted in national and local political and cultural contexts. Toward that end, it will invoke a few major theorists of cyberspace, but apply their perspectives in terms that are accessible to readers with no familiarity with them. Beyond summaries of the infrastructure that makes the internet possible and global distributions of users, it delves into issues such as the digital divide to emphasize the inequalities that accompany the growth of cyberspace. It also addresses internet censorship, e-commerce, and e-government, issues that have received remarkably little scholarly attention, particularly from a spatial perspective. Throughout, it demonstrates that in cyberspace, place matters, so that no comprehensive understanding of the internet can be achieved without considering how it is embedded within, and in turn changes, local institutional and political contexts. Thus the book rebuts simplistic “death of distance” views or those that assert there is, or can be, a “one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter” model of the internet applicable to all times and places.

The aim of this book is to establish a basis for resolving the various issues facing modern society by exploring the field of Computational Social Science, which fuses the social and natural sciences. Today, society is threatened by problems concerning the environment, population growth, hunger and epidemics, all of which could lead to the extinction of humankind. However, attempting to resolve these issues is extremely difficult, because of the complex, intertwined factors involved, and because these issues are not just matters related to nature and the environment but also to society. In this book, we investigate this aporia of the social sciences with the help of big data (which has gained considerable attention in recent years) and techniques such as agent-based simulation. Our aim is to resolve the complex system problems characteristic of the present age. In this regard, the book focuses on specific issues such as the reconstruction of public character in our s ocial-media-saturated modern lifestyle, the current state of social capital, and the resultant social changes.

The 'eventization' of the media is increasingly important for the marketing and appreciation of popular media texts. Media Events gives readers an understanding of the major debates in this high-profile area of media and cultural research.

This collection of original essays takes a multi-disciplinary approach to explore the theme of failure through the broad spectrum of public art and social practice. The anthology brings together practicing artists, curators, activists, art writers, administrators, planners, and educators from around the world to offer differing perspectives on the many facets of failure in commissioning, planning, producing, evaluating, and engaging communities in the continually evolving field of art in the public realm. As such, this book offers a survey of currently unexplored and interconnected thinking, and provides a much-needed critical voice to the commissioning of public and participatory arts. The volume includes case studies from the UK, the US, China, Cuba, and Denmark, as well as discussions of digital public art collections. The Failures of Public Art and Participation will be of interest for students and scholars of visual arts, design and architecture interested in how art in the public realm fits within social and political contexts.